Roof mounted water heaters are known in the art. Unfortunately, conventional roof mounted water heaters suffer from a problem of allowing heat that has been absorbed to escape, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the water heating system. In view of the above, it would be desirable to improve the efficiency of roof mounted water heater systems.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a hot liquid heater system at an area of a roof or outside wall of a building, the hot liquid heater system comprising: a heating chamber in which liquid is heated by solar energy from the sun, the heating chamber located proximate the roof or outside wall of the building; a first vacuum insulating glass (VIG) unit located above the heating chamber so that the solar energy passes through the first VIG unit before reaching the heating chamber; and wherein the first VIG unit comprises first and second substantially parallel flat spaced apart glass substrates defining a gap therebetween, an edge seal provided around a periphery of the first and second glass substrate to form an hermetic seal, and a plurality of spacers provided between at least the first and second substrates, and wherein the gap between the first and second substrates is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure.
The liquid to be heated may be water in certain example embodiments.
In certain example embodiments, the heating chamber may comprise at least one copper tube through which liquid to be heated flows.
In certain example embodiments, the hot liquid heater system may further comprise a second VIG unit located under the heating chamber. In certain example embodiments, the first VIG unit does not include a low-E coating, and the second VIG unit does comprise a low-E coating.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a hot water heater system to be mounted at an area of a roof or outside wall of a building, the hot water heater system comprising: a tube through which water to be heated by solar energy from the sun flows, the tube to be located proximate the roof or wall of the building; a vacuum insulating glass (VIG) unit located above the tube so that the solar energy passes through the VIG unit before reaching the tube; and wherein the VIG unit comprises first and second substantially parallel flat spaced apart glass substrates with a gap therebetween, an edge seal provided around a periphery of the first and second glass substrates to form an hermetic seal, and a plurality of spacers provided between at least the first and second substrates, and wherein the gap between the first and second substrates is at pressure less than atmospheric pressure.
The features, aspects, advantages, and example embodiments described herein may be combined to realize yet further embodiments.